A Reader Asks Why John Sidney McCain Is Calling Himself "Irish" In The NEW YORKER
07/01/2013
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Re: John Derbyshire On The Origins Of The Amnesty/Immigration Surge Bill: Getting To Treason

From: Joe Walker [Email Him]

John Derbyshire quoted Ryan Lizza as saying

McCain could hardly contain himself as he recited the story of how the Heritage report backfired. “Ka-boom!” he yelled. “That was a gift from God . . . But, yeah, those low-I.Q. Hispanics, I’ll tell ya, that was really revealing to me, I had no idea.” McCain, who is of Irish heritage, added, “We’ve always known that about the Irish.”[ Getting to Maybe: Inside the Gang of Eight’s Immigration Deal, June 24, 2013]

I don't know why McCain claims to be Irish when his ancestry is actually Scottish and English.

See previous letters from Joe Walker.

James Fulford writes: I don’t know either.McCain’s ancestors did come from Ireland, but they weren’t Irish. McCain is what’s called Scots-Irish.

That means he's descended from Scotsmen who settled in Ireland among the Irishmen (who didn’t like it) and then moved to America because they considered fighting wild Indians, bears, and wolves would be a relatively soft option. See Derry-do on the frontier [The Scotch-Irish in America]by Peter Brimelow.  I. E. McCain’s not descended from the same people as Teddy Kennedy, but from Teddy Kennedy’s mortal enemies.

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